The present invention relates to a spinning reel for fishing which can prevent incorrect operation of a bail in a fishing line casting operation and can improve the fishing operation of the spinning reel.
As known well, conventionally, in most spinning reels for fishing, a semi-circular bail is mounted on the leading end portions of a pair of support arms provided in a rotor in such a manner that it can be freely reversed between a fishing line retrieving position and a fishing line casting position through a bail support member.
If the bail is turned down to the fishing line casting position and the terminal tackles of the spinning reel are thrown, then a fishing line wound around a spool can be released in a spiral manner. Also, if the bail is returned back to the fishing line retrieving position and a handle is operated to thereby rotate the rotor in a fishing line retrieving direction, then the fishing line can be wound around the spool, which traverses back and forth in connection with the rotation of the rotor.
However, conventionally, in the spinning reel of this type, there is a drawback that, when the bail is turned down to the fishing line casting position and the fishing line is released, the handle can be turned due to the casting motion to thereby rotate the rotor in the fishing line retrieving direction. This may result in the bail support member being reversed to the fishing line retrieving position by a reversing mechanism and the fishing line can thereby be cut.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, recently, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei. 3-16867, there has been proposed a lock device in which a connecting member having a leading end portion engageable with the bail support member and a trailing end portion engageable with an uneven portion provided in the front portion of a reel main body when the fishing line is released is so mounted as to extend from the interior of the rotor into the support arms, so that the fishing line casting state of the bail support member can be locked by the connecting member.
However, since the above-mentioned lock device is structured such that the leading end portion of the connecting member is engaged with the bail support member and the trailing end portion of the connecting member is engaged with the uneven portion provided in the front portion of the reel main body, there is a drawback that the base portions of the support arms and the front portion of the reel main body are complicated in shape and structure.
Also, because the present lock device is so structured as to lock the rotor to the reel main body through the connecting member in the fishing line casting operation, the bail cannot be reversed and returned from its fishing line casting state to its fishing line retrieving state with the rotation of the rotor by means of the handle retrieving operation, which results in a poor efficiency in the operation of the lock device.